Big Money In Baseball Memorabilia

It is wise to save all sports memorabilia because it might make you rich someday. Here a display case filled with memorabilia in the third row rests at the spot Bob Feller normally occupied in the Progressive Field press box as seen during the game between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. The Cleveland chapter of the baseball writers association of America honored Feller by placing the shrine in memory of the Hall of Fame member who passed away at the age of 92 in 2010. Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

As someone who is both fascinated by baseball and history, my interest usually doubles when the topic is baseball history. Over the last month I have been following an auction, which concluded early Sunday morning with some astonishing purchases.

I may be interested in baseball and history and owning pieces of baseball history, but my budget is more in alignment with Baby Ruth candy bars than Babe Ruth baseball cards. So for the most part I am on the sidelines when anything of great value is made available to the bidding public. As it was by Robert Edwards Auctions during this stretch of time.

All I can tell you is that if you own anything that has to do with Babe Ruth that is the genuine article, an old card, a signed photograph or ball, any type of autograph, you should take as gentle  care of it than if you come into possession of the Hope diamond or a Van Gogh painting.

I used to think that my hobby was collecting sports memorabilia. And although I still have bunches of baseball cards, media guides obtained during the course of work as a sports writer, programs and yearbooks, it would be more accurate to classify my hobby as watching other people collect sports memorabilia. I own a bank account. They own banks. Compared to the people who were bidding for selected items I am playing Class D ball and they are in the majors.

For me, it was like going to Las Vegas and seeking out a $2 table. I made a few bids and they were topped so quickly that the rejection of my high bid was recorded faster than my bid, it seemed. I got emails that said sorry, but I had been outbid instantly.

Anyway, the auction closed around 5 a.m. Sunday and it was announced that more than $10 million worth of collectibles were sold. They weren’t all baseball items, but I’m estimating that baseball stuff constituted 85 of it. More than 1,800 items went out the door.

There was a Honus Wagner T-206 from the 1909-1911 baseball card set that is the most coveted of all cards and it sold for $340,000. I’m assuming it would have gone for much more if it had been in better condition.

The show stopper item was a card described as being only one of 10 known to be in existence produced by the Baltimore News American in 1914–a Babe Ruth rookie card. The selling price was $380,000. The better-known Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie card sold for $230,000. A 1910 Shoeless Joe Jackson card went for $100,000. And a 1912 Boston Garter panel with four players on it, including Frank Chance and Fred Clarke, sold for $150,000. The auction house said it has handled just four Boston Garter cards ever.

See what I mean about this being the big leagues of collecting?

While the Baltimore card was referred to as Ruth rookie card it was issued before he reached the majors. There was also a card produced in 1916 by Ware’s Sporting Goods that was referred to as a rookie card that sold for $110,000. Put it this way, with either variety, you aren’t going to have doubles.

There were some other stunning sale prices. I watched a Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig signed baseball jump from $85,000 to $290,000 over the weekend. A single-signed Gehrig ball went for $120,000. A Sandy Koufax game-used Dodgers jersey sold for $170,000. Mazel tov.

Some people buy Porsches, some people invest in sports memorabilia.

There was lots and lots of cool stuff from cards to balls to bats to World Series press pins, and while generally speaking you weren’t going to get anything for much less than $1,000, and there was ferocious bidding even on comparatively inexpensive items, it was possible with the right focus and a little bit of luck to pluck something that seemed pretty special for an apparently reasonable amount of money. One example was a very sharp condition Connie Mack signed baseball that went for $900.

I enjoyed watching the bidding on three different signed Honus Wagner baseballs. One ball, clearly in superb condition, sold for $22,500. Another ball, which looked fine, too, sold for $10,000. It is a general rule in the collecting world that a single-signed baseball is more valuable than one signed by more than one person. That super expensive Ruth-Gehrig ball is an exception. Team balls are in a different category, though, less prized I guess because they seem cluttered with names and include signatures by less consequential ballplayers.

A third Wagner ball fell into this category. It was a 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates autographed team ball. Hank Greenberg, in his final Major League season, was on the team and on the ball. So was future Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner. Wagner was a coach and his signature is extremely clear. The ball itself was a little shabby, but it sold for $1,300. That sounds like a bargain to me.

Of course, bargains are relative to people who must think about making the rent, putting food on the table, covering student loans, and making car payments before they consider spending on Honus Wagner.